Guardian
by MurasakiYasu
Summary: Neji is assigned as Sasuke's Guardian Angel but things aren't as simple as they appear. NejiSasuke, SasuNaru. Story is a whole lot better than the summary.
1. A New Mission

"Ohayo, Neji-san."

Neji looked up in surprise to find a glowing figure standing before him. He jumped to his feet and bowed low on the grass before her. She blushed.

"Hinata-sama, pardon my rudeness, I did not hear your approach."

"It is quite alright. I come to you with your next mission. This one may prove to be a challenge so your considerable skills are in order." Hinata spoke with a quiet but clear voice befitting of an Archangel. She did not usually deliver new missions to the angels but her partner, Haku, was preoccupied. She usually only observed the human plane, unlike Haku, who took a more active role in assigning guardians to the mortals who were most in need of guidance.

"I'm intrigued," admitted Neji, it was a while since he'd had a challenge.

"Then please, follow me up to the roof and we will discuss the matter further."

Hinata turned on the spot, her pure white kimono rippling, and spread her beautiful white wings. She flapped them once and was airborne. Neji followed her into the cool morning air and the two soared towards the streets of New Konoha City. Neji enjoyed the elation of flying. He looked down over the park where he'd been sitting on a bench beside the glassy lake. He hadn't heard the Archangel Hinata approach, but that wasn't unusual; she was amazingly graceful and her wings almost silent.

They ascended at speed between the tall buildings until they reached the towering structure that made all the others look small. The pair sped up to fly vertically parallel up the side of the building. Neji saw their reflections flicker in the mirror surface of the towers many windows. Hinata's face was upturned towards the clear blue sky, her long black hair streaming behind her and pale skin highlighted in the bright sunlight. She was truly and angel of the purest and rarest form. His own lithe form streaked along beside her, dark hair tied in a loose ponytail that flailed in the wind, with pale skin and equally pale eyes he was angelic in appearance just as he was strong in spirit.

Suddenly the wall ended and the two angels shot into the air above a glass domed roof. Neji could see the large fountain and beautiful marble floors of the penthouse suite through the shining dome as they alighted upon the roof beside the glass structure.

Hinata moved to the edge and looked out across the city as she folded her wings tightly to her back. Neji did the same and stood at a respectful distance behind her to watch her halo glow hypnotically in the clear morning light.

When she finally spoke her voice carried easily across the short distance even with the considerable wind that only came from being this high above the city.

"He lives in this city, on the mortal plane of course. He's the financial manager of a large software firm; law abiding citizen, always pays his taxes, regular schedule, no family, no friends, no interests. When his day comes his spirit will pass over to the heavenly plane but he will become merely another angelic soul… unless something is done." She turned to Neji, now with a large envelope clutched in her gentle hands. "I have observed him and believe he has the potential to become a powerful angel." Walking up to Neji she handed him the envelope and looked at him with eyes so similar to his own that there could be no mistaking that they were related. She turned those pleading eyes on him. "I need you to help him, give him a reason to live because that is not what he's doing now."

"Well it certainly is a change from the usual 'drunken mortal straying down the path to the demonic plane'."

"You will help him then?"

"I will do my best." Neji paused wondering if he might be overstepping the mark to ask the question that had occurred to him when Hinata appeared before him.

"Speak your mind, Neji-san." Hinata said softly.

Neji looked at her with surprise; he had heard that the Archangels had the power to read minds but had not believed it.

"We can not read minds," she answered his unspoken query. "I have merely known you long enough to guess your mind, Nii-san."

Neji smiled, she hadn't called him that since she had been promoted. Hinata's rise to Archangel had been a surprise to their family, most of who existed here on the heavenly plane as angelic souls. But Neji was the least surprised, being a high ranking angel himself, he often spoke with the Archangel Haku and had recognised the same exquisite qualities in his cousin as he saw in Haku. Hinata had, at first, been worried that Neji would not be happy, after all, he had been an angel longer and completed more missions. But he had found he possessed no negative feelings on the matter. The Archangels were always the two most pure, divine and just, male and female angels whose faces would appear in the Pool of Fate when their reign was to begin. He knew Hinata was the best person to take on the duty. He didn't believe he would ever wear a halo, the defining quality of an Archangel that was passed to the new ruler from it's previous owner, but he was happy this way, he could not muster any desire to shoulder such a heavy burden.

With the name of 'Nii-san' to remind him that he was still talking to his younger cousin, even if she did wear a halo now, he spoke his mind. "Pardon my asking, Hinata-sama, but why is it I have the pleasure of your company rather than Haku-sama? Is it not usually his duty to deliver missions?"

"Haku-sama is currently dealing with a troublesome new angel." Neji was sure he caught Hinata's expression change slightly before she looked away.

"Troublesome?" Neji probed, he knew it was not his place to ask but something in Hinata's expression told him she was keeping something from him.

"Yes, he has been having a little trouble letting go of loved ones and adapting to death. But it is of no matter, Haku is more than capable of calming hi–"

At that moment a crash interrupted them. Neji jumped. Being so used to the silence this high up, the noise seemed louder than it actually was. Hinata glanced to the glass dome of the roof. Neji walked over to look in.

A blond haired angel stood in the room below, his wings were spread wide and the remains of vase lay on the floor beside him.

"Please, calm yourself, Naruto." The glowing figure of the Archangel Haku, glided over to the young angel.

"I can't die. I can't die. I can't be dead!" he cried out, sinking to his knees on the marble floor. "I can't leave him. I can't lose him!"

Even from the roof Neji could see the tears leaking from over bright blue eyes. It was a heartbreaking sight.

"Troublesome, huh?" he remarked softly.

"Hmm, I wish there was more we could do for him, but it really is only a matter of time. He will adjust… eventually."

"I guess so."

Haku suddenly looked up through the window from his position on the floor beside the sobbing angel. His doe brown eyes were intense, but their gaze was not directed at Neji. Neji looked behind him and saw that Hinata met Haku's gaze with equal intensity.

"You should go," she said suddenly, breaking the eye contact with Haku who went back to trying to calm the new angel. "You have a mission to complete. Everything you will need is in the envelope. Good luck."

Understanding his dismissal, Neji nodded to the Archangel, "May the darkness never taint your heart." He spoke the ritual goodbye.

"And may your wings never fail you." She replied with a small smile.

Neji ran to the edge of the roof and dived clean off. He allowed himself to freefall maybe 10 storeys for the sheer thrill of it. Then he extended his wings, bracing himself for the backlash. He smiled with a childish excitement he was glad he still possessed, even after so many years of watching over the mortal plane. It was a beautiful day and he had a new mission with someone who, one day, may well serve as an angel alongside him… if he could get this guy to live his life.

He sobered, Hinata was right, it was a difficult mission. The objective seemed simple enough but when he thought about how he might achieve it he drew a blank. It was easy enough when something was clearly wrong about how a mortal lived their life but this time was going to be different. He supposed he would have to spend some time observing this guy and work from there.

Neji took a deep breath of the deliciously clean air rushing past him as he descended. Focusing all his energy on the single goal of forging a path onto the mortal plane he prepared to transport himself. There was the familiar sensation of energy building up inside him like a rapidly filling reservoir and then the dam breaking and the rushing feeling of being stretched almost to breaking point as though he was the water and part of him was stuck in the dam before the rest of him forged through the path between planes and he was slammed back together again.

Neji opened his eyes which he couldn't help closing every time he experienced the horrible sensation of inter-plane transportation. At first glance it looked as though he was in exactly the same place, streaking down the side of the tallest skyscraper towards the ground. But it was different. As usual the first thing that hit Neji was the smell. The wonderfully fresh air of the heavenly plane was now the polluted air of the city laced with the smell of everything from an overflowing drain to the hotdog stand on the corner. Here the sounds were harsher, the light less pure and the view much less spectacular. Car horns honked and people shouted, dustbins overflowed and the streets were dirty. Neji soared over the roads packed with taxis that were going no where soon. He only had to look around to find a hundred people he wanted to help and a hundred more he wanted to send straight to the demonic plane.

The mortal plane felt like such a cruel world after the beautiful streets of the heavenly plane, but Neji knew that if he was coming from the demonic plane, this crowded and noisy city would seem flawless.

When he reached his destination, he sat down on a park bench that looked almost identical to the one he had sat on this morning, except that this one had its memorial plaque graffitied. He opened the envelope Hinata had given to him. It contained a sheaf of papers detailing his new assignments location, habits, schedule, stats and…

"Huh?" Neji muttered. "There should be more than this. What about family? Friends?"

But the page that would normally contain details on family and friends was littered with N/A's.

Neji sighed. Although Hinata had briefly mentioned the man's position he had at least expected details of relations living far away or even deceased. But according to the file in front of him the man had been found on the doorstep of an orphanage and had lived in carehomes all his life. Nothing was known of his origins before that.

Neji looked at the picture of a dark haired man with a serious expression on his pale face and emotionless black eyes. He was a handsome man but Neji thought he'd look better if he smiled or even showed any kind of emotion. Well it was his job to change those dead eyes and Neji had never failed a mission yet. He was sure he would succeed even if it did take a little longer than usual.

Neji frowned at the name below the picture: Sasuke Uchiha. He wondered how the man had gotten his name when nothing was known of his family. Neji supposed the orphanage must have named him, because if there had been a note with him when he was found details of the note would surely have been included in the file.

He stood preparing to take flight in the direction of his new assignments apartment. He swayed and sat abruptly back down again.

"Damn it."

Inter-plane transportation always took a lot of energy out of angels and demons whose energy levels were limited to that which was available within the beings own body. Only the Archangels, the Devils and the Angel of Death and the Demon of Death could draw energy from their surroundings.

After inter-plane transportation Neji often found he still had a small well of power left inside him. He supposed he had exhausted that well of power by flying here. But it was always easier to transport yourself if you were already travelling at high speeds so the drop from the skyscraper had been the best option.

Neji sighed, he was exhausted. He couldn't very well present himself to his is new assignment when he felt like this. First impressions could count for a lot and he need to be at his best. He would feel better after a nap, but much as he was reluctant to move from this bench in his current state, he needed to find somewhere he would not be disturbed. He currently had no corporeal body and could be seen by no one other than the mortal and any other angels or demons he happened to come across, but it was still rather uncomfortable to wake up to find someone sitting _in_ you!

To tired to fly anymore, Neji dragged his feet into a less public area of the park. He lay down on the grass spreading his wings out much as one would stretch their arms and giving an indulgent yawn before closing his eyes. It was a truly beautiful sight that not one of the passing mortals saw. The sight of an attractive young man dressed in a white kimono and matching white hakama, lying peacefully on the grass his silky black hair framing an angelic face and his pure white wings spread out to either side of his slim body.

When Neji woke up he judged it was roughly mid-afternoon. 'Perfect,' thought Neji as he shook the stiffness from his wings. 'I can get a good look at his apartment before he gets back from work.'

He took off at a run, glad to find his previous drowsiness almost completely gone. The address he had in the file was quite close to the park. A pretty nice area if he remembered correctly. He was glad he didn't have to go out of the city for this assignment, he had had some pretty difficult experiences tracking people down outside the city before, but having lived in this city on the heavenly plane for so long he knew his way around. Each of the three planes had roughly the same layout except the features were subtly different. Like this graffitied bench, for example, he knew the state of that bench was probably even worse on the demonic plane. The 3 planes also had different weather, a different atmosphere and, of course, very different inhabitants.

When Neji reached Sasuke's flat it was empty. Getting in wasn't a problem. Angels and demons weren't corporeal on the mortal plane. They could become corporeal and even visible if need be but it took energy to maintain so most opted to only be seen by their assigned mortal. However it was almost impossible to hide your presence from another dead being, whether they be angelic or demonic.

Neji found you could usually tell a lot about a person by the state of their living quarters. At first Neji thought he might have gotten the wrong address, it didn't look as though anyone had lived there recently. The apartment was modern and minimalist with cold wooden floors and unadorned white walls. There were no unnecessary decorations and the few items that were around were all placed neatly were they ought to be. The only signs that anyone lived there were the dark coloured clothes in the wardrobe and the organised food in the cupboards.

Neji sighed, it was a rather bleak setting but he was stuck here until he could change this guy. He made himself comfortable on the black leather sofa, crossing his legs and spreading his wings out.


	2. Hallucinations

About half an hour later the tap of shoes and the click of a key in the lock alerted Neji to Sasuke's arrival. Neji watched the man walk into the room without turning the light on. Sasuke didn't look up at first; he just headed for the kitchen. Neji heard the tap running and Sasuke returned to the lounge with a glass of water.

It was then that Sasuke spotted the intruder sitting quite comfortably on his sofa. Sasuke slowly took in the extraordinary sight. There sat a tall, pale man with long dark hair and the most unusual pale lilac eyes. But his eyes weren't the most unusual thing about this stranger; it was the fact that the man had large pure white wings!

Sasuke was rarely caught off guard but right now he knew he was gaping like a goldfish. He gave a small cough and tried to pull himself together.

"You're breaking and entering," he said, glad to hear his voice sounded perfectly calm, even if he wasn't.

The angel gave him a sly smile, "What're you going to do about it? Call the cops? Tell them an angel broke into your apartment? They'll think you've gone mad."

"Hn," Sasuke frowned and Neji smiled. "_I_ think I've gone mad."

"Well, rest assured, you're perfectly sane."

"Thanks, now I feel a lot better," Sasuke replied scathingly as he dropped into an armchair opposite the sofa. "So what do you want?"

"Would a cup of tea be too much to ask?"

"I only have coffee."

The angel pulled a face that looked comical in its contrast to his graceful manner. "Never mind. Well… I guess I had better introduce myself." He stood and bowed in one sweeping move, his wings complimenting the action. "My name is Neji Hyuuga and I am an angel and… your new guardian."

Sasuke blinked. "Guardian? What makes you think I need a guardian? I'm a big boy now; I can take care of myself."

"Don't worry I'm not going to give you a curfew. Though it wouldn't be the first time I'd enforced a curfew on a mortal… but I don't think you need one."

Sasuke stared at him for a second. "You're not joking, are you?" Sasuke asked, knowing perfectly well what the answer would be.

"I don't joke," Neji replied seriously, taking his seat again.

Sasuke nodded. "I can tell. So… what now? You going to show me my past, present and future, or something?" he asked, still not quite believing that he wasn't just sitting at home alone, talking to himself. He was silently racking his brains trying to figure out if he'd eaten anything funny that might have caused these hallucinations.

"No, I'm not a ghost and you're no scrooge, for now I will simply get to know you."

"Get to know me? Like go on a date or something?"

"More like follow you day and night."

"Oh, so like a stalker?"

"Hmm, I think I preferred your date idea, it's a little classier."

"I'm straight." Sasuke replied, face not changing in the slightest.

"You're a liar."

"Hn."

Neji smirked.

"How do you know?" asked Sasuke, annoyed that someone had called him on his lie.

"You think we don't get a little information on the assignment before we come all the way onto the mortal plane? It would be foolish to come here not knowing what we would find."

"Where would you get this information from?"

"Curious, aren't you? Fine, we get a short briefing and a file on the person from one of the two reigning Archangels."

"Archangels…? Of course," muttered Sasuke, still disbelieving. "So… how do you suppose we do this?"

"However suits you best."

"How about you go away, I take a few sleeping pills and I forget all about these crazy hallucinations?"

"No, yes and no. You do seem rather tired and I am weary from my journey here, so how about we continue this in the morning?"

"There will be no continuing this."

With that Sasuke turned on his heel and headed for his bedroom. It was far too early to fall asleep naturally, but his 'guardian' was right, he was tired. He undressed and raided the bathroom cabinet. He just wanted to go to sleep and forget this whole horrible day. Taking a few extra tablets Sasuke sighed, making a mental note to buy more sleeping pills. He pushed away the hanging around the four-poster and sunk into the downy bedspread. Gathering the covers around himself he felt the drugs beginning to work.

Neji sighed. 'That could have gone better.' He thought, as he lay down on Sasuke's sofa, an uninvited guest. 'But then again, it could have gone much worse.' He had had many other assignments that had made him thoroughly glad he was incorporeal by trying to assault him.

He stared intently at the ceiling. Meeting Sasuke had only enforced what Hinata had told him. The man was a closed book; he hid himself behind a mask of sarcasm and cold indifference. Neji didn't know how he would get him to open up but he knew he would. After meeting the man Neji was determined to give him the help he needed even if he didn't want it.

What he had seen in Sasuke's eyes tonight had disturbed him. Here was a man who, as Hinata had said, wasn't living. What was it that caused those eyes to be so empty? What would it take for them to glint with hidden emotions, the way Neji felt they should? Questions chased each other around Neji's mind and he knew he wouldn't sleep for a while.

He tried for at least an hour anyway, tossing and turning on the cold leather couch before giving up and standing with a small huff. He straightened his kimono and looked around for something to do. He padded down the hallway, tabi covered feet almost silent on the wooden floor. At the end of the hall was Sasuke's bedroom.

Neji smiled to himself, 'Why not do a little observation whilst he's unconscious and therefore unable to make snide remarks?'

He had searched Sasuke's apartment quite thoroughly earlier on and decided he liked the bedroom the most. It consisted of calming blue tones, sturdy oak furniture and a large four-poster bed at the centre of the room.

The room was dark now as Neji treaded quietly on the thick navy blue carpet. He could see Sasuke through the fine net hangings of the bed. The man was curled tightly inside the dark blue covers. Neji pushed the hangings aside and knelt beside the bed folding his arms on the sheets and resting his chin on his arms. He watched the peacefully sleeping face of Sasuke for a long time. The man seemed more open and gentle when he was asleep.

An ability of all angels and demons was sensing people's auras. It was a power that

angels possessed in order to detect those in need of help. On the other hand it allowed a demon to find those who are most easily led astray. It was a power that aided both sides in the continuous war between angels and demons.

Neji could feel Sasuke's aura permeating the room, so that Sasuke's surroundings seemed to mirror his mood. It was a calming aura; controlled and strong yet delicate in its own subtle way, as though a wrong word could shatter the illusion and unleash a torrent of raw emotions. Neji didn't doubt what he sensed.

Neji knew he would need to trend carefully with this one. Sasuke was on a knife edge and barely keeping his balance. He needed the man to trust him first and it was quite plain that Sasuke did not trust easily. 'I need to let him know some more about me,' Neji decided. 'And not just statistics, but about whom I really am, what makes me… me.' That would involve spending some time with Sasuke. 'Heh I'm starting to think his date idea might be a good idea. This is going to take time… but then I have nothing but time!'

Standing gracefully, Neji moved over to the deep window seat. He settled himself leaning up against the glass so that he could continue to observe the sleeping man. Neji found it surprisingly easy to sleep, even though he was now leant against cold glass rather than lying on a sofa, perhaps it was the calming blue tones of Sasuke's room or perhaps it was Sasuke himself. Neji thought it was probably because by being near the man (even without Sasuke's permission) he felt as though he had made some kind of start to his mission.

* * *

Authors Note: Yeah I know it's kind of short so Gomen-nasai! But I just wanted to leave it there. Hope you review! 


	3. Stalker

At six O'clock the next morning Neji was woken by an annoyed voice.

"Why the hell are you still here and what do you think you're doing sleeping in my room?"

Sasuke stood in front of the window seat, arms crossed over his bare chest and one foot tapping. He scowled at the angel slumped in his window seat. Sasuke had jumped out of bed in surprise when he had rolled over to look out of the window (as he did every morning) only to find Neji sleeping there. It was not the kind of thing he enjoyed waking up to and Sasuke knew he would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

"I'm just doing my job," said Neji calmly, standing up and shaking the stiffness from his wings.

Sasuke watched the unusual sight of the angel before him flexing his wings as one would flex their arms after sleeping in such an uncomfortable position on the window seat.

"What exactly is your job? Invading my personal space and my private sanctuary?!" asked Sasuke angrily.

"Among other things," replied Neji, smothering a yawn.

"Which are…?"

"Helping you live your life."

"What the fuck? I don't need help to live my life! I have a perfectly fine life!"

"Hmm, so you say," said Neji pensively.

Sasuke let out an annoyed huff and stormed out of the room, Neji followed. He found Sasuke in the bathroom raiding the cabinet for pills. He watched Sasuke tip several into his hand and search for a cup.

"You're not supposed to take that many," Neji told him quietly following Sasuke into the kitchen in his search of a cup.

"Fuck off."

"How eloquent of you," Neji replied sarcastically. "But I can't let you do that."

Reaching out Neji made his hand corporeal only enough to snatch the pills from Sasuke's clenched hand. Sasuke gave a shout and tried to grab Neji's wrist. But his hand went right through the angel. Sasuke snatched his hand back at the strange sensation of passing through the angel; it felt tingly, not necessarily in a bad way but it gave Sasuke a shock. He tried to grab Neji's hand instead but felt only the same sensation. Sasuke slumped against the kitchen counter in defeat, one hand on his forehead.

"Give me the painkillers Neji," Sasuke said tiredly. "I have a thumping headache which, you realise, is probably your fault."

Neji carefully counted out the recommended dosage and handed Sasuke the tablets. Sasuke downed them immediately.

"It's not a good idea to take more than you're supposed to. You can take two more in four hours time," Neji told him gently.

Sasuke scowled; he hated being told what to do, especially by this 'angel' who had just turned up. He took a deep breath.

"Look can't you just go and find someone else to 'help'?" Sasuke asked in a tone of forced calm. "I can manage just fine on my own."

"Have you always been on your own, Sasuke?" asked Neji quietly.

An odd look passed over Sasuke's face and he looked down at his hands, they shook ever so slightly.

"No, I had someone once." he murmured tenderly, then as though realising he'd allowed Neji to catch him off guard he continued in a harsher tone. "But he is in the past and I live in the present."

Neji raised an eyebrow but said nothing. It appeared that he might have touched on just why Sasuke was so closed all the time. But it was a delicate subject and would have to be addressed as such.

"Where is he?"

"Dead," said Sasuke flatly, his voice was controlled but Neji could sense his inner turmoil.

"I'm sorry."

"I hate it when people say that, it wasn't your fault therefore you do not need to apologise."

"Yeah I know it's just the standard answer. When did he die?"

"Last week."

"So recent… You're a strong guy, aren't you, Sasuke?"

"No… no I'm not," Sasuke turned and walked back to his room.

"I think you are," muttered Neji.

Neji settled himself on the sofa to wait for Sasuke as he got ready for work. When the man returned he did not look at Neji. Instead he walked right out of the apartment slamming the door behind him. Neji sighed and walked through the closed door just as Sasuke turned to unlock it.

"You're not coming," Sasuke said firmly.

"Try and stop me," Neji challenged with a smirk on his face.

Sasuke scowled, of course he knew he couldn't stop Neji from following him to work, not when the angel had no corporeal body. Turning away he strode down the hallway and opted to take the stairs three at a time. At the bottom he glanced up the stairwell. The fact that there was no sign of the angel following him heartened Sasuke but at the same time he was wary. Somehow it seemed to good to be true that Neji would give up just because Sasuke ran away from him.

His suspicions were proved to be correct when Sasuke walked into the entrance hall to find Neji standing in the middle of the marble floor. The angel stood tall in his traditional clothes and smiled slightly as he watched Sasuke deflate in front of his eyes. The man didn't look too surprised to find Neji standing there though. This impressed Neji, he liked the man; Sasuke was elegant, composed and most of all clever.

"Why are you following me?

"I'm your new stalker, remember?"

"Hn."

Sasuke walked briskly across the entrance hall passing Neji by without another glance and pushed through the revolving doors. He knew Neji was following him but he did his best to ignore him, something Sasuke was only too good at.

Sasuke pushed through the day with a composed facade. He couldn't keep telling Neji to leave him alone because it would look like he was talking to himself so he completely ignored the angel as he stood by his side through each of Sasuke's morning meetings. He could feel Neji's hauntingly pale eyes watching his every move and could almost hear the angels brain assessing him. It was annoying to say the least.

When Sasuke gladly returned to the peace of his private office for his brief lunch break he threw himself straight into his large chair. Usually he liked his tall backed chair because it made him feel important as he gave orders to those below him, but right now he liked the chair simply because it was comfortable. He resisted the urge to groan and lean his head on the table, aware that Neji was watching from a sofa in the corner of his office.

Sasuke watched Neji smooth down his robes as he sat on the sofa. Neji sat on the right hand side of the sofa but Sasuke's eyes focused on the left hand seat. Memories flooded his mind as he stared at that spot. Hands, lips, an arched back, strong tanned arms and cerulean blue eyes sparkling with love and passion. Sasuke blinked and the vision disappeared, but the impression the image left on him was enough to make his eyes water. He swivelled his chair around to face the window and blinked rapidly.

Recent though the accident may be, it was still in the past. That man was dead and buried and it was useless to dwell on such things. Sasuke told himself he would deal with grief in his own way. He was quite familiar with death and felt that if he had dealt with it before he could do it again. Somewhere in the back of his mind Sasuke knew he was lying to himself but the most vocal part of his brain told him that the pain of this loss would simply take more time to heal than the loss of his family.

"Do you eat at lunch?" the voice came from directly behind him and startled Sasuke; absorbed in thought he had completely forgotten that Neji was still in the room.

"I'm not hungry today," Sasuke told him calmly, spinning his chair back to find Neji leaning on his desk.

Sasuke made shooing motions and dragged his paperwork towards him, he couldn't afford to fall behind. He knew he was going to have to read the minutes from this mornings meetings very carefully because of how distracted he had been by the angel's presence. Sasuke scowled when Neji remained exactly where he was.

"You're sitting on my workspace," he told Neji flatly.

Still the angel didn't move.

"Eating might help your headache," Neji told him calmly.

"Quit mothering me, I'm not hungry!"

"You should still eat, where do you usually go to eat?"

"My secretary picks up my lunch."

"Call her then."

"No."

"Fine I will," Neji reached for the phone on the desk.

Sasuke didn't know how the angel knew which button would connect him to his secretary but when he saw Neji's finger press the correct button Sasuke moved as fast as was humanly possible to grab the phone from the angels fingertips. Sasuke's hand once again met the tingling feeling of an angel in natural form before he snatched the phone away. Neji smirked and Sasuke knew that he wouldn't have retrieved the phone if the angel hadn't wanted him to.

Sasuke gave a short huff and put the phone to his ear just as a falsely sweet voice called down the phone, "Yes Uchiha-san?"

"Could you bring my lunch to my office please?" Sasuke spoke stiffly to his secretary.

"Of course I'll be right there!"

He hung up without saying another word and glared at Neji who finally got off of his desk and went back to the sofa. Sasuke's eye twitched as the angel sat on the left hand side this time. Neji wasn't to know but he still didn't want anyone sitting there. Neji gave him a questioning glance and Sasuke was about to ask him to move when there was a brief knock on his office door. Without waiting for a reply his pink haired secretary strode into the office.

"Here you go Uchiha-san," she said striding up to his desk in her stiletto boots and setting down a disposable bento box. "I hope this mornings meetings went smoothly?"

"They didn't, so I'll need the minutes as soon as possible. Thank you for lunch Sakura-san, you may leave," Sasuke's tone was dismissive but Sakura didn't step away from his desk.

Leaning closer she frowned at him slightly, "Are you feeling well?" she reached out to rest a hand on his forehead as if checking his temperature.

Sasuke smacked her hand away. "I'm fine, please leave."

She stood up still frowning, "I just worry about you Uchiha-san that's all. To be honest I think you're pushing yourself too hard lately, ever since..."

"Leave." Sasuke's voice shook a little as he spat the word at her. He was fed up of her constant concern for him. Sasuke's young secretary, Haruno Sakura, was a pretty woman. Sasuke often found her overly friendly with him but he knew she could be quite formidable when provoked, as she had demonstrated at the company's last Christmas party.

She finally backed away, "Okay, I'm leaving," she walked away but just as Sasuke began to feel relief at her exit, she stopped, hand on the door handle and turned back to face him, her bright green eyes serious. "Just so you know, Sasuke, you can always come and talk to me."

And then she was gone. Sasuke didn't bother to correct her for speaking to him so informally. Her concern touched him under many layers of annoyance at her boldness; she cared and he had so few people who really cared. Sakura's attraction to him was obvious to everyone, including the cleaning staff. In the early days of their working relationship she had flirted outrageously and repeatedly attempted to corner him into 'work-related' dates. But since a few months ago, when she had walked into his office without knocking, Sakura had realised that she would never have Sasuke's interest. Sasuke was always careful to appear as though he only tolerated her presence because she was a good secretary, but in truth he had come to depend on her solidarity as much as the Uchiha would ever allow himself depend on an annoying woman like Sakura.

Neji had watched the exchange carefully. At the mention of his lost partner Sasuke's face, in a rare moment of weakness, had displayed a turmoil of emotions. Neji wasn't sure what to make of the situation he had been thrust into. But Neji wasn't one to panic, he decided to concentrate on matters at hand and query his suspicious lack of information later. He sat in silence for a short time whilst Sasuke moved his food around with his chopsticks staring at a point somewhere in the distance. After a moment Neji sighed and walked up to the desk again.

"That looks good, you should eat it," he prompted, leaning against Sasuke's desk again.

"I told you I'm not hungry, you eat it," snapped Sasuke waving the chopsticks in Neji's direction.

"I'm an angel, I don't eat."

Sasuke turned his head slightly, cocking an eyebrow. "You asked for a cup of tea yesterday. You drink but you don't eat?"

"Aren't you the observant one? Let me rephrase that: I don't need to eat. You, however, do."

"Hn."

Sasuke picked up a piece of maki-zushi with his chopsticks. Neji smiled to himself in victory as Sasuke sniffed at it. But a second later Sasuke had thrown it back down again and pushed away from the desk. Neji watched him rush from the room in shock before following the dark-haired man. He caught up with Sasuke just as his charge emptied the minimal contents of his stomach into the toilet.

* * *

**A/N:**

bento box: lunch box  
maki-zushi: those little rolls of sushi you get that usually wrapped in nori (seaweed) yummy!

Don't forget to review! Ja!


	4. A Promise

Neji watched as Sasuke went back to work, putting on his professionally emotionless face and ordering various people around. No one would guess the man had been trembling over the side of the toilet bowl at lunchtime. Sasuke had stormed back to his office, as soon as he stopped heaving, and thrown the rest of his bento in the bin.

"When was the last time you ate properly?" asked Neji, breaking the silence in the office.

"None of your business," growled Sasuke.

Neji sighed, it seemed as though Sasuke would never give him an easy answer.

"It is my business if that's how you behave at the sight of good sushi."

"It wasn't good, it was cheap and nasty. Besides as you can probably tell I'm not feeling very well. In fact," Sasuke glanced at his watch, "I'm _allowed _some more painkillers now." He gave Neji a nasty look and pulled a bottle of water and the tablets out of his top drawer. Sasuke made sure to wave the 'recommended dosage' at Neji before downing them.

"Have you been sick recently, other than today?"

"No, maybe you set it off."

"But you've been having headaches?"

"No, they're your fault too."

"So I made you ill?"

"Yes."

"And when was the last time you ate properly?"

"Last week-" Sasuke looked up from his work when he realised they had returned to the original question. "Why all the questions?"

"It's my job to learn more about you."

"Hn."

Neji allowed the conversation to end there, taking in what he had learnt. So Sasuke's partner had died last week and he had not been taking care of himself since then. Was he so lost in grief that he couldn't bring himself to eat? But that did not seem likely; he managed to function enough to fool others into believing their respected 'Uchiha-san' was unaffected by anything. Sasuke was a strong guy on the outside but that was obviously not really the case, his secretary seemed to have picked up on that. She was clearly a clever girl... or was it simply that she had too much time on her hands to observe and admire him?

The one thing that was clear to Neji was what he needed to do first. He could deal with Sasuke's mental state only after he had helped his physical well-being. First he would get Sasuke eating properly and for that they would need to go shopping because there was certainly not enough to eat in the cupboards at home.

At half past five Sakura came to say goodbye to Sasuke. He wished her goodbye in his usual grumpy manner before going back to work and she cast one last worried look in his direction before closing the door.

At six O'clock Sasuke showed no sign of finishing up for the night and Neji decided it was time to intervene.

"Let's go, we should go to the supermarket before we go back to the apartment."

"Why?" asked Sasuke not looking up from his laptop screen.

"Because you need something more than coffee and ramen noodles to eat."

"How do you-" he looked up and scowled at Neji. "Did you go through my cupboards?"

"Naturally, I was curious."

"Nosy son of a-"

"Calm down, I didn't find anything... incriminating." said Neji gently.

Sasuke made a growling noise in the back of his throat that sounded oddly like 'Asshole'. But never the less he closed his laptop and slipped it into his bag along with a pile of papers and his diary. Neji followed him down the hallway, past the old cleaner and into the elevator feeling quite smug.

"Where is the nearest food shop to your apartment?"

"We're not going shopping."

"Yes we are. I want some tea," insisted Neji.

"This shopping trip is just so you can have tea?" asked Sasuke incredulously as the lift doors slid open.

"No, you need fresh fruit and vegetables. You know, _real _food."

"I'm not hungry!" snapped Sasuke.

The security guard at the front desk looked up in surprise. "Erm, don't eat then?" he suggested uncertainly.

"I wasn't talking to you!" said Sasuke before realising the security guard thought he was the only person in the foyer. "I was talking to... nevermind. Sorry. Goodnight"

The security guard nodded looking rather shaken and Sasuke strode out through the revolving doors with a scowl on his face. He walked briskly down the street at a speed that made Neji glad for his own long legs. He entered a small supermarket Neji was sure they hadn't passed on the way to work. Grabbing a basket he started throwing in random pieces of fruit and different vegetables. Then he moved down another isle grabbing a box of brown tea bags.

"Surely you can't expect me to drink that trash?"

"You wanted tea!" Sasuke hissed exasperatedly.

"Green tea." Neji corrected.

"Green tea? That stuff's horrible! We get normal tea."

"Either you pick up that green tea or I do it myself and have it float around like some spirit has hold of it," threatened Neji reaching for the shelf.

"Okay, okay I'll get it!" He reached out automatically knocking Neji's hand away.

Even though his hand moved to knock Neji's away, his brain expected to feel that tingly sensation again. So he was surprised to feel cool flesh meet his. Snatching his hand away he looked at Neji with wide eyes.

"You feel human!"

"Briefly, yes. I needed to become solid to pick up my tea. Here," Neji reached out and lay his hand on Sasuke's frozen one. "Solid," he reiterated as though talking to a child. "Not solid." He said simply, letting his hand slide through Sasuke's.

The cool touch of Neji's skin was replaced by the bizarre tingling of an angelic form. Sasuke shuddered and withdrew his hand quickly. Being careful not to make contact with Neji again he picked up the angels preferred tea and hurried away to the checkout. Neji followed silently.

As soon as they reached the apartment Sasuke dumped the shopping on the kitchen counter and walked down the hall. A few minutes later Neji heard the shower start up and sighed in relief; maybe Sasuke would feel better after a shower.

Neji then thought about his plan for tonight. At the store he had only briefly pulled his hand into a solid state, taking very little effort, but tonight he wanted to make sure Sasuke ate a proper meal so he had decided to eat with him. To cook and eat he would need to be completely corporeal which would take a lot of energy to maintain. As angels and demons did not belong on the mortal plain there was always the pull of their own plain acting on them and this pull took energy to fight. It was this same pull that made travelling to the mortal plain so tiring and the demonic plain almost impossible for lesser angels, but getting back to the angelic plain fairly easy. Whilst incorporeal Neji was as close to the angelic plain as he could be without actually being there. But to be physically felt by mortals would mean fighting harder against the pull of the angelic plain and would take a lot of energy. Neji knew he had the energy, but still, he would need to sleep better tonight than he had last night. It wasn't as though he needed to be visible to anyone other than Sasuke, that would surely exhaust him.

Closing his eyes he concentrated hard on making every part of his body as 'human' as it could be considering he wasn't human. He took a deep breath as he opened his eyes feeling the heavy weight on his chest and extra gravity that begged him to let go of this corporeal form. It was as though he had just gotten out of the water where he was light, flexible and at home. The pull was as unpleasantly tempting as always but Neji ignored it and set to work on dinner.

Under the spray of the shower Sasuke leaned against the tiled wall. Today had been unendingly stressful and the thought of who waited for him in his apartment gave his rattled mind no solace. Having Neji around had only been a constant reminder of _him._

"An angel... eh?" Sasuke muttered pressing his slick skin against the cool tiles. "As in from heaven..."

It was only now occurring to him that this angel, Neji, was proof that the dead didn't just disappear. So did everyone become angels? But that wasn't possible... some of them obviously went to hell. But _he_ wouldn't be in hell. Sasuke had never known anyone as loving, kind and genuinely good. Even if he had been annoying he always meant well.

Memories weighed down on him of the good times and the bad. All the times he had been cold and hurtful towards the man he had loved more than anything. The years Sasuke had wasted pushing him away and denying both of them. But his friend had never given up on him. He had been the first person to persist for so long that Sasuke had given in.

"He promised to save me," muttered Sasuke.

His legs giving out, Sasuke slid down the tiles to fall in a broken heap in the bottom on the shower. The tears he had held back today fell in a moment of shameful grief Sasuke knew he could never show to anyone. It was a weakness to love and his current situation was proof of that. Uchiha's do not show weakness; that was the key rule in the old Uchiha household. But Sasuke had broken it... he had let someone past his guard and now he paid the price for it. He deserved this pain.

"Save me?" Sasuke opened his eyes, water droplets collecting on his lashes. "How did you plan to do that?"

His friend's words had always puzzled Sasuke. What exactly did he need saving from? Sasuke wasn't even sure if _he_ had really known.

_"I'll save you!"_

_"I don't need saving."_

Sasuke had always replied with the same answer. Yet he hadn't stopped the man from trying. Sasuke had never seen _his_ company to be saving him, but now he was gone Sasuke had to wonder. Even though the loss of a loved one was causing him pain on a level Sasuke had never before experienced he wouldn't trade those years with his friend and lover for anything. That realisation about his priorities shocked Sasuke and he now saw how different he was as a man from the boy his mother and father had begun raising.

Staring blankly at the shower wall something bright caught at the edge of his vision. Bright yellow. Scrambling to his knees, Sasuke reached over knocking the shampoo bottles roughly away. Behind them was a familiar item. A bright yellow rubber duck. Shaking fingers closed over the toy and Sasuke brought it close to his chest. He ran his finger slowly around the spiral penned on the duck's chest in orange Sharpie.

Sasuke clutched it tighter as his body tensed with renewed sobs. But the toy slipped from his fingers skidding across the shower floor. He crawled over quickly to pick it up but stopped with his fingers reaching for it. On the bottom was more orange writing that Sasuke had never noticed before. He picked it up again, tentatively this time, and turned it over to read the inscription.

_"Sasuke,_

_I promise._

_Naruto."_

Sasuke almost dropped the duck again. Why had he not noticed this before? But of course he'd never bothered to pick up the duck before, it was Naruto's stupid toy, not for adults. But why would Naruto have written something like that? It was almost like a message from beyond the grave... but that was silly. Sasuke was on the verge of telling himself that there was no way that was possible when he remembered Neji. In his apartment right at this very moment was proof, of live after death, himself.

Was it possible for Naruto to have delivered a message? But if he had been here why hadn't he just shown himself? Was there some heavenly rule that prevented him? But Naruto had never let rules get in his way before.

He had so many questions that needed answers. He needed to know whether it was possible for the dead to visit the living and the one person who might have the answers was in his apartment right now!

Sasuke quickly replaced the duck to where he had found it. He had hidden away all relics of his lover to avoid being reminded of him but apparently he had missed this one. He replaced all the bottles, effectively hiding the toy again, and climbed out of the shower.

As he dried himself he thought about how best to phrase his question. It was not going to be very easy considering he had to bring up the relatives Neji had been forcefully parted from. Neji must have loved ones somewhere in this world...

Or did he? Sasuke paused, when he thought about it he had no idea how old Neji was; he didn't look that much older than himself but that meant nothing if he was dead. So, Sasuke supposed, it was quite likely that Neji no longer had any living relatives. Well, that was something Sasuke was all too familiar with.

A few minutes later, now fully dressed, Sasuke opened his bedroom door to the smell of cooking fish. All thoughts of being nice to the angel, in the interest of getting his questions answered, immediately evaporated.

"Damn angel," he growled stomping into the kitchen.


End file.
